Veolia recognises Southwark crew with fleet branding
Veolia Southwark’s Recycling Crew 3 have been further recognised for winning the 2022 Collection Crew of the Year award by having the award printed on the side of the vehicles in the council’s refuse collection fleet.
Vehicles driven by the crew now have a banner saying ‘Collection Crew of the Year 2022 winners’ printed on the side.
On 18 May, Veolia’s Southwark collection crew, known as Recycling 3, attended the Letsrecycle Awards for Excellence at the Landmark Hotel in London and were crowned the winners.
The members that make up Recycling 3 are: Akintunde Abisogun, Sherman Dixon, Stephen Kedziora, Abdulahi Hussein and Raymond Whyte, the last of whom gallantly came back from retirement to drive with Veolia again.
The crew was also recognised by Princess Anne in 2021 for their work during the pandemic (see letsrecycle.com story).
Defra delays response to PRN consultation
Defra has delayed the publication of the summary of responses to a consultation it ran earlier this year on reforms to the PRN system.
Having originally planned to publish the summary this summer, the department now says it will be released in October.
Defra said it took the move to “allow us to carefully consider” the 129 responses received.
Published in March, the consultation set targets up until 2030 and sought views on several proposals to address the common issues raised about the PRN market.
This included mandatory monthly reporting and steps to counter material taken out of the system by a deposit return scheme (DRS).
Greater Cambridge installs WEEE drop off points
The Greater Cambridge Shared Waste Service has installed eight drop-off points across the region for residents to deposit small electricals like toasters, phones and hairdryers.
The pink bins have been installed by the group, a partnership between Cambridge city and South Cambridgeshire district councils, to tackle “one of the fastest growing waste streams in the UK”.
Cambridge city council’s executive councillor for environment, climate change, and biodiversity, Cllr Rosy Moore, said: “There will always be some electrical items that are too old or cannot be repaired, and it’s very important that these are not binned with household rubbish, or even recycling.
“They contain precious materials like gold, aluminium and steel which are needed for making new items, and they have to be recycled separately which is why we are working hard to make it as easy and accessible as possible for residents to recycle them.”
Basildon consults on future waste service
Basildon council has launched a consultation to get residents’ views on how the council should collect recycling, residual and bulky waste.
The consultation opened yesterday (15 August) and will close at midnight on 30 September.
The aim of any new service is to create one that meets the borough’s ambitious recycling and climate change targets, the council says.
Councillor Kevin Blake, Basildon’s cabinet member for environment and carbon reduction, said: “At present on average a staggering 988kg of waste is produced per household. That’s the weight of a car.
“If we are to meet our carbon net-zero objectives we must start to act now, and we will need the support of every resident of the borough to get there.
“We will listen to our residents to help us shape a service that is fit for a carbon net-zero future.”
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